Libyan army unit members in Benghazi told residents they had defected and "liberated" Libya’s second city from troops supporting veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi. Mohamed al-Mana, a local lawyer told Reuters that members of the “Thunderbolt” squad had arrived at the hospital with soldiers wounded in clashes with Gaddafi’s personal guard. “They are now saying that they have overpowered the Praetorian Guard and that they have joined the people’s revolt,” al-Mana reported by telephone.
In Brussels, the Hungarian EU presidency said Libya had told the European Union it would stop cooperation with the bloc in stemming illegal migration to Europe if the EU continues to encourage pro-democracy protests in the country. Foreign reaction to the unrest in Libya, a major energy producer with significant investment from Britain's BP Plc, Exxon of the United States and Italy's ENI among others, has so far been muted.
Benghazi, 620 miles east of Tripoli, has always been a bastion of opposition to Gaddafi's 40-year regime, with residents complaining they have seen little of Libya's wealth from the largest oil riches in Africa.
A son of the Libyan leader, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, went on TV early Monday morning promising a program of reforms after bloody protests against his father's rule reached the capital Tripoli.
EU-Digest
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